**For Entertainment Purposes Only**

If you live in Calgary, you’ve probably seen the emerging political scandal with minimal details released so far. It’s got me poking around, and I’m wondering if this all leads back to the Barron Building Project.

This is a long one... but I want to know your thoughts and if anyone else has put these pieces together. The historic downtown tower was supposed to be the crown jewel of our “revitalization.” It was built in 1951 by J.B. Barron, one of the first Jewish lawyers in Calgary, a prominent figure in the early Jewish community, and a passionate theatre impresario who owned venues like the Palace and Grand Theatres and brought world-class performers to the city. Decades later, Riaz Mamdani’s Strategic Group acquired it and is converting it into apartments with $8.5 million in taxpayer grants... a “special exception” pushed through Council.

What makes this even more alarming is the state of the business itself. When the City was approving these 'special exceptions,' Strategic Group was already in the middle of a massive financial collapse. By their own admission, they were losing $3 million a month and had been forced into court-ordered receivership for dozens of properties. Why was City Hall committing $8.5 million in taxpayer money to a developer that a judge had already deemed financially unstable? To me, it doesn't look like an investment in the city....it looks like a taxpayer-funded life raft for an insider friend.